Dictionary files and loops?

[Rebecca Ivester]

I have 9 .txt files containing data, one for each year from 2010 to 2018. All files share the same naming convention; the only thing that differs is the year. These data files require a dictionary to be read in. Each file needs the same dictionary; however, I need to specify which file is being read in at the beginning of the dictionary file and I don't see a way to loop. Is there a way to do this elegantly--i.e., without having to create a separate .dct file for each data file? Ultimately, I'd like to read in the first file, 2010, using the dictionary, save the data as a .dta file, then do the same for the subsequent years. Then, I would like to append all the .dta files.

From my .do file:

infile using "S:\Project\CDC_Dictionary.dct"

My dictionary file (there are many more variables than this, but I cut most out to save space):

dictionary using "S:\Project\Mort2010US.txt" {
    
    str39  race %39s                 "Race"
    str5   hisp %5s                  "Hispanic origin"
    str2   race_recode_40 %2s        "Race recode 40"

}

[William Lisowski]

If I coreectly understand the output of

help infile2

specifying the input file in the dictionary is not required, and the using() option on the infile command will allow you to specify the input file.

infile using "S:\Project\CDC_Dictionary.dct", using("S:\Project\Mort2010US.txt")

dictionary {
    
    str39  race %39s                 "Race"
    str5   hisp %5s                  "Hispanic origin"
    str2   race_recode_40 %2s        "Race recode 40"

}

[Daniel Schaefer]

It sounds like you are looking for something like this:

forv year = 2010/2018{
    di "S:\Project\Mort`year'US.txt"
}

Although I can't test, the above implies something like this might work:

forv year = 2010/2018{
    infile using "S:\Project\CDC_Dictionary.dct"

    dictionary using "S:\Project\Mort`year'US.txt" {
    
        str39  race %39s                 "Race"
        str5   hisp %5s                  "Hispanic origin"
        str2   race_recode_40 %2s        "Race recode 40"

    }
}

[Anand dubey]

forval i=1/20 {
cap conf v dictionary_V2_level`i'
if (_rc) continue
infile using "C:\Users\Dropbox\PC\Desktop\Drop_box\dictiona ry\d ictionary_V2_level`i'.dct"
save "C:\Users\Dropbox\PC\Desktop\Drop_box\dta2\dat a_v2 _level`i'", replace
clear
}

This is what i have been using to extract data from dictionary files that wrote. However the problem is since i don't have consecutives values of levels in my dictionary files, this loop won't work. I tried inserting :

cap conf v dictionary_V2_level`i'
if (_rc) continue

to solve this, but this did not work. Can someone suggest me how can i run this code and what is wrong it?